die WANDERVÖGEL

The youth movement that inspired our name

Tracing its roots to a group of German students that began meeting in 1895, the Wandervögel movement was officially formed in 1901 as a back-to-nature youth organization emphasizing freedom, self-responsibility, and the spirit of adventure.

die WANDERVÖGEL

The movement’s name literally translates as “Wandering Birds,” but “vagabond” probably has the closest English meaning. Some have suggested the name was derived from “Birds of Passage” in Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, however it was most likely taken from a poem by Otto Roquette which was later turned into a Wandervögel song.

die WANDERVÖGEL

Before the Great War and in the postwar years before the rise of the Nazis, thousands of young people in hiking shorts and colorful costumes could be seen hiking around the German countryside with banners flying, guitars and rucksacks slung on their backs, in search of a better way of life.

die WANDERVÖGEL

The Wandervögel movement grew rapidly in its early years, attracting the attention and grudging admiration of Germany’s mainstream political and religious establishment (which soon created its own competing youth groups with many ideas borrowed from the Wandervögel).

die WANDERVÖGEL

The First World War wiped out an entire generation of German youth. With them died their romantic dreams and shining ideals.

Nevertheless, elements of the Wandervögel would survive in subsequent developments in the German youth movement, not only through surviving Wandervögel groups themselves, but through other youth organizations, as well.

die WANDERVÖGEL

Yet even the Hitlerjugend was styled after the Wandervögel in many ways.

The HJ incorporated the concept of ‘youth led by youth’ into its core ideals, their uniforms echoed the unique style pioneered by the Wandervögel, as did customs like the straight-arm salutes and the greeting “heil,” the wearing of camp knives, singing of folk songs, and other elements of Wandervögel style and substance.

die WANDERVÖGEL

After the Second World War, Wandervögel was re-established as a non-political youth organization dedicated to the movement’s original values, including individual freedom, human rights, self-responsibility, internal truthfulness, and reverence for nature.